Manpower (1941)

Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work on a road crew for the power company. In a freak accident Hank is injured and is promoted to foreman of the gang. One night Hank and Johnny meet Fay ... See full summary »

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Richard Macaulay (original screenplay), Jerry Wald (original screenplay)

Stars:

Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, George Raft

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward G. Robinson	...	Hank 'Gimpy' McHenry
Marlene Dietrich	...	Fay Duval
George Raft	...	Johnny Marshall
Alan Hale	...	Jumbo Wells
Frank McHugh	...	Omaha
Eve Arden	...	Dolly
Barton MacLane	...	Smiley Quinn
Ward Bond	...	Eddie Adams
Walter Catlett	...	Sidney Whipple
Joyce Compton	...	Scarlett
Lucia Carroll	...	Flo
Egon Brecher	...	Antoine 'Pop' Duval
Cliff Clark	...	Cully
Joseph Crehan	...	Sweeney
Ben Welden	...	Al Hurst

Storyline

Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work on a road crew for the power company. In a freak accident Hank is injured and is promoted to foreman of the gang. One night Hank and Johnny meet Fay Duval in a clip joint, but tensions start to show in the road crew as rivally between Hank and Johnny increases.

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Plot Keywords:

clip joint | power company | electrocution | prison | false accusation | 

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Taglines:

Raft and Robinson are at the brawling point!

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 August 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Herzen in Flammen

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 103 min (Turner library print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A fistfight developed on the set between stars Edward G. Robinson and George Raft when Raft spun Robinson around too hard for a scene.

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Goofs

After Johnny bails Fay out of jail, they are seen walking together down a stairway at the police station. When they arrive at the first landing, as they turn and continue to descend the stairs, the shadow of the microphone boom can be seen on the wall behind them.

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Quotes

Hank 'Gimpy' McHenry: [Last Lines] Did anyone yell headache when I was coming down?
Johnny Marshall: Sure.
Hank 'Gimpy' McHenry: I'm glad nobody got hurt.
[Hank dies]

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Connections

Referenced in Summer of '42 (1971)

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Soundtracks

"I'm in No Mood for Music Tonight"
(1941) (uncredited)
Music by Friedrich Hollaender
Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Possibly played instrumentally

User Reviews

Wonderful Cast Makes It Worth Watching

Manpower (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Power company workers Hank (Edward G. Robinson) and Johnny (George Raft) end up falling in love with the same woman (Marlene Dietrich) who not only tears their friendship apart but also threatens a lot more. This Warner B-picture shares a lot in common with TIGER SHARK as well as its remake SLIM so those familiar with either of those films won't find anything too original here but to be honest even if you're not familiar with either of them, you'll probably still find this not too original. With that said, the cast is so good that you really can't blame the film for its short comings and instead you will get caught up in the drama and find yourself having a pretty good time. As with many Walsh pictures, this one here takes the simple story and the director pumps it up with all sorts of loud action including various storms with the men trying to work on power lines and of course one thing after another goes wrong. We also get countless scenes with Robinson and Raft in bars, drinking, smoking and just acting tough like not too many can. Fans of the two stars will certainly want to check this film out even though neither men give one of their greatest performances. Robinson manages to come off very tough but also can handle the softer moments with Dietrich as she begins to rip his heart up. Raft has always been fun even when playing the sidekick and that's true here. Apparently he and Robinson had a few angry moments with each other while filming this and you can tell in a few scenes. Dietrich is pretty good but the screenplay really doesn't do her any favors. Both Robinson and Raft at least had well written characters but the same can't be said for Dietrich. Alan Hale and Frank McHugh add nice support. The screenplay follows all the clichés you'd expect it to and this of course leads up to a very silly ending that really doesn't work too well. With that said, as silly as the film is it's still fun for the cast.